An axial-flow blood pump includes a housing having an inlet and an outlet opposite therefrom. An impeller located within the housing is suspended during operation by magnetic forces between magnets or magnetized regions of the impeller and a motor stator surrounding the housing, and hydrodynamic thrust forces generated by a flow of blood between the housing and a plurality of hydrodynamic thrust bearing surfaces located on the impeller. A volute may be in fluid-tight connection with the outlet of the housing for receiving blood in the axial direction and directing blood in a direction normal to the axial direction. The volute has a flow-improving member extending axially from the volute and into the housing in a coaxial direction of the housing.

A blood pump has a hollow body in which an impeller with a spiral blading produces an axial propulsion of blood along the impeller, as well as an at least partly actively stabilized magnetic bearing device and a hydrodynamic bearing device for the impeller. The impeller may be set into a rotation about a rotation axis of the impeller with a motor stator located outside the hollow body. The hollow body has an inlet for the flow of blood into the hollow body in an inflow direction which is essentially parallel to the rotation axis, and an outlet for the outflow of the blood out of the hollow body in an outflow direction which is offset to the rotation axis of the impeller to produce a non-zero outflow angle (α) between the inflow direction and the outflow direction. A total artificial heart can be formed from two such blood pumps.

A blood pumping device comprising at least a first pump and a second pump, and a first and second pump actuating means for inducing a blood flow in a body's circulatory system is disclosed. Each pump comprises one upper chamber having an inlet channel and one lower chamber having an outlet channel. The upper and lower chambers are separated by a movable valve plane provided with a valve. The pump actuating means are configured to apply a movement to said valve plane in an upward and downward direction between said upper and lower chambers in response to control signals from a control unit, such that when said valve plane moves in an upward direction the valve provided in the valve plane is in an open position allowing a flow of blood from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, and when the valve plane moves in a downward direction the valve is in the closed position and blood is ejected from the lower chamber through the outlet channel. The bottom part of the lower chamber is provided with a bag-like portion.

Disclosed are systems and methods for use of an inductive link for a communication channel in a transcutaneous energy transfer system. An example system may include a resonant circuit associated with an external primary, a power transistor connected to the resonant circuit and configured to drive the resonant circuit with a first time-varying electrical signal having a frequency, and a power driver connected to the power transistor that is configured to set the frequency of the first time-varying electrical signal to a resonant frequency to enable power transfer from the external primary to an implanted secondary. The example system may further include a communication driver operatively connected to the power transistor and configured to encode the first time-varying electrical signal with a data signal by modulating an attribute of the time-varying electrical signal as electrical power is transferred from the external primary to the implanted secondary.

There is provided a method for controlling a flow of fluid and/or other bodily matter in a lumen formed by a tissue wall of a patient's organ. The method comprises gently constricting (i.e., without substantially hampering the blood circulation in the tissue wall) at least one portion of the tissue wall to influence the flow in the lumen, and stimulating the constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the lumen. The method can be used for restricting or stopping the flow in the lumen, or for actively moving the fluid in the lumen, with a low risk of injuring the organ. Such an organ may be the esophagus, stomach, intestines, urine bladder, urethra, ureter, renal pelvis, aorta, corpus cavernosum, exit veins of erectile tissue, uterine tube, vas deferens or bile duct, or a blood vessel.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to a method of fabricating an artificial heart muscle (AHM) patch. In some embodiments, the method includes obtaining and/or isolating cells from a subject. In some embodiments, the cells are primary cardiac cells. In some embodiments, the method further includes forming a scaffold. In some embodiments, the method includes seeding the cells in the fibrin gel scaffold. In some embodiments, the method includes culturing the cells seeded in the fibrin gel scaffold under conditions appropriate for the formation of an artificial heart muscle (AHM) patch. In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to a method of fabricating a bioartificial heart (BAH). In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to a method of treatment of cardiac tissue injury in a subject in need thereof. In some embodiments, the method includes implanting the aforementioned artificial heart muscle patch in the injured area of the subject. In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method of treating end stage cardiac disease in a subject in need thereof.

The present invention relates to an apparatus (500) for supporting the heart action, preferably by displacing the heart base (110) and/or the aortic root (201), comprising at least a first anchor (501) and a pulling device or guiding device (502, 503, 732, 732a, 732b) for moving the first anchor (501), wherein the first anchor (501) is provided and designed for implantation in or on the heart base (110), the heart skeleton (120), the aortic root (201) and/or a structure in local proximity to the aortic root (210), and/or comprising at least one lifting drive (502, 503). The present invention further relates to a control device (901), an insertion system, a kit and a method for supporting the heart action.

The present invention relates to an apparatus (500) for supporting the heart action, preferably by displacing the heart base (110) and/or the aortic root (201), comprising at least a first anchor (501) and a pulling device or guiding device (502, 503, 732, 732a, 732b) for moving the first anchor (501), wherein the first anchor (501) is provided and designed for implantation in or on the heart base (110), the heart skeleton (120), the aortic root (201) and/or a structure in local proximity to the aortic root (210), and/or comprising at least one lifting drive (502, 503). The present invention further relates to a control device (901), an insertion system, a kit and a method for supporting the heart action.

A magnetic coupling suspension pump includes a stator body and a rotor. The stator body includes a magnetic suspension stator assembly and a magnetic coupler stator assembly; the rotor includes a magnetic suspension rotor assembly and a magnetic coupler rotor assembly; the magnetic suspension stator assembly and the magnetic suspension rotor assembly constitute a magnetic suspension assembly, and the magnetic suspension assembly is configured to generate radial uni-polar magnetic poles and magnetic fields arranged along a circumferential direction, resulting in that the rotor suspends; and the magnetic coupler stator assembly and the magnetic coupler rotor assembly constitute a magnetic coupler assembly, and the magnetic coupler assembly is configured to generate radial non-zero even number of periodic magnetic poles and magnetic fields arranged along the circumferential direction, resulting in that the rotor rotates.

A blood pump housing device designed to enclose and protect a total artificial heart when implanted in a subject is disclosed. The blood pump housing device comprises a first and second artificial heart pump receiving part (3a, 3b) configured to receive and partly enclose a first and a second artificial heart pump (20a, 20b) of a total artificial heart (TAH); and a first and second pump actuation enclosing part (4a, 4b) configured to partly enclose a first and second pump actuation means (60a, 60b), said artificial heart pump receiving parts (3a, 3b) and pump actuation means enclosing parts (4a, 4b) are arranged to connect to each other in a leak-free manner.